Pepco has reshuffled its management team, placing Poundland boss Barry Williams at the helm, as it issued its second profit warning in three weeks.
Following the underwhelming performance, Pepco managing director Anand Patel will step down with immediate effect, and Williams, who has led Poundland and Dealz in the UK and Ireland for six years, will replace him.
Williams, who has also held senior roles at Asda, has spearheaded the discount giant’s UK transformation in recent years, including widening its range to include more clothing and homewares.
Austin Cooke, who is currently chief operating officer of Poundland, will take on Williams’ role.
Pepco said it had witnessed an “increasingly challenging trading environment” across Central and Eastern Europe and had slashed its profit outlook for Pepco twice in the last three weeks to £648m (€750m).
Pepco saw lower-than-anticipated sales during August, and this worsened in September amid decreased consumer demand for clothing and general merchandise.
The retailer said it had experienced negative like-for-like sales and “weaker than expected performance from new stores”.
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The new group executive committee will focus on initiatives “that are likely to generate appropriate returns in the near term, accelerate the transformation into a single business and refocus on [its] core markets” as well as cutting costs.
Executive chairman Andy Bond said: “We need to improve profitability and cash generation in our established business alongside a more targeted growth plan in markets where we have an existing presence.”
“It is clear that we need to refocus on delivering for our customers in our core business while delivering more measured growth.”
After snapping up 71 Wilko store leases from administrator PwC earlier this month, Poundland will open its first set of stores located inside former Wilko outlets this weekend, just days after they stopped trading.
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